


Asking the Real Question

by Piripulix300



Series: Sanji-centered one shots [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Awkward Roronoa Zoro, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Nakamaship, reunited, whole cake island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 16:26:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16122353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piripulix300/pseuds/Piripulix300
Summary: What’s for breakfast? What’s for lunch? What’s for dinner? The same question every time! It was slowly making Sanji mad.Post-Whole Cake Island with no spoiler.Or “Zoro's guide to saying I missed you”.





	Asking the Real Question

_Anytime now… Any time…_

Sanji stirred the soup with a bit too much force, unwillingly spilling orange spots here and there on the counter.

_Stupid marimo with his wicked sense of humour._ Sanji thought. _One day he was gonna find himself with an entire spatula stuffed down his throat._

The door opened, breaking him out of his thoughts. Then, for a split second, there was a blessed silence in the kitchen. Zoro has entered the room. He was watching Sanji with boredness –and a spark of something else- in his eyes. Sanji, for his part, had stopped moving to observe him. Sanji’s hand was tense, clutching the spatula, waiting for the dreaded phrase…

“Yo cook. What’s for dinner?”

Sanji saw red. He threw his utensil at him, yelling how such a moron shouldn’t be allowed to live and forcing Zoro out of the kitchen thanks to flying pans and kitchen knives. One of them impaled on the door after Zoro’s rush outside, missing the green-haired men by an inch and making him jump away from the door.

“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Zoro asked out loud. “Fucking idiot.”

He stayed hooked to the railing for a while before noticing that the ship had gone silent. When he finally turned to take a look, he noticed fast head movement looking away from him. Usopp and Luffy even started to whistle. Zoro snarled and the two dorks startled. He ignored the rest of the crew to focus on them instead.

“Usopp! What’s so funny?”

“Why me?! Everybody was listening in!”

It was good to know that Usopp didn’t bother lying to him. He was obviously too afraid to try so.

“Yeah but you’re easier to manipulate. What’s up with the blond?”

“OI!” Usopp yelled, effectively not answering his question.

Luffy suddenly burst out laughing. He rolled on the floor holding his stomach with his hands. Nami reluctantly gave something to Robin, who gave one of her famous sly smiles back. Franky turned around slowly, still eyeing the kitchen door. Zoro knew that he was waiting for the cook to calm down before daring to go near the door to inspect the damages. Luffy kept on laughing.

“Usopp...” Zoro growled again, making his nakama react accordingly.

“It’s just that... Why do you keep doing this?”

“Doing what?” Zoro asked intelligently.

 “Asking him the menu for every meal? You never did that before, that’s for sure.”

Pure surprise dawned on the swordsman. The worst about it was that Zoro couldn’t even answer back. Usopp was right. Before, he would have been napping under the mast or at the stern, but now he couldn’t help himself. He hadn’t even noticed it was making Sanji mad. As if he could hear his inner monologue, Luffy stopped laughing to watch him in the eyes. He was looking at Zoro, bearing a smile that would make the sun jealous. It was amazing how fast their captain could pinpoint the exact problem in mere seconds.

“You missed him too, right?”

Oh. So… was that it? He had _missed_ the cook?

“Wait, the ero-cook? Impossible.” Zoro muttered in disbelief. “Why would I miss the dart-brow anyway?”

A very small and timid voice raised from the floor. Zoro managed to keep his calm even though Chopper surprised him. He hadn’t seen the doctor coming. He ought to be more careful in the future.

“Maybe...because he almost left the crew?”

The reindeer was making those sad puppy eyes, not actually looking at him but focusing on the kitchen door instead. Ever since they got Sanji back, the doctor had acted strange, following Sanji everywhere until the cook gently –but firmly- asked him to step aside, that he wasn’t gonna vanish. Thinking about it, he should have said something sarcastic to the cook being mushy. Why hadn’t he?

“I know I was very afraid that he wouldn’t come back,” Chopper admitted. “I think we got lucky at some point.”

Zoro patted his nakama on the hat to let him know that he understood. So that was it, uh? He had really missed the cook. Or maybe there was something more. Maybe he was… _afraid_ that san- that the kitchen would be suddenly empty some day. What a dumb idea. Yet…

“How do you manage?”

That was an unlike-Zoro thing to say, but it was okay because everyone had gone back to their activities and no one was looking at him anymore. Plus, he got the biggest smile possible Chopper could give.

“I... I’m not doing very good. I’m still very afraid. But I know it’ll go someday, ‘cause it could have been worse. Thanks for asking.”

“Yeah...”

They stayed like this for a while, with Zoro’s hand on Chopper’s hat and watching the door, until Zoro found the courage to look away.

Sometime later, Sanji called them for dinner.

Zoro tried to keep things to himself during the meal. With everyone acting the same as usual, it wasn’t very hard. Dinner ended, and everyone left the table one by one until there was only Usopp, Zoro and Nami sitting there. Sanji had started to do the dishes, the sharpshooter was playing with something in a corner and Nami was enjoying her dessert. Taking advantage of Sanji’s inattention, Nami leaned towards Zoro.

“You couldn’t last a week before making him angry?!” She seethed, and Zoro smirked.

“Eh. Not my fault you lost a bet.”

The cook was making happy noises, busying himself with some hot refreshment for the night. He was sending hearts here and there.

“You better watch your mouth, or I’m adding this to your debt.”

Nami then stood up, grabbed Usopp and left the room without leaving Zoro the chance to ask any question.

Sanji woke up from his lovely daydream on the door closing. He turned around to see that the angel had left the room. He twirled to the door.

“Nami-swan, where are you going?!” Sanji asked.

The thief stuck her head through the door, stopping Sanji before he could follow her. He didn’t give a single fuck about Usopp leaving, but taking Nami with him was a no-no.

“Oh, I’m sorry Sanji-kun, I have things to do before going to bed. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all! But what do I do with your beverage?”

“Maybe you can bring it to me later?”

The possibility of going inside the ladies room –and possibly interrupting something inadvertently- got him looking like a fool. He wiggled on his spot.

“Everything you want, Nami-Swan!”

With a wink, Nami left. Sanji sighed and stayed put, still dreaming about the ladies room. But a throat clearing broke his dreams. When he looked behind him, Zoro was still there, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. Sanji whipped his bleeding nose.

“Tche. What are you still doing he-”

“I wanted to check on you.”

Everything stopped. The blond was looking in the distance, not believing what he heard.

“What the fuck do you mean?”

Zoro readjusted himself on his seat. He put his hands on the table and managed to make himself look apologetic, even if he was avoiding Sanji’s eyes.

“I didn’t mean to make you angry.”

“Baka marimo...”

That had Zoro looking up, but he wasn’t expecting to see Sanji smiling fondly. The cook had his hands in his pockets. He took out a cigarette and sat down, facing the kitchen and leaving enough personal space to put another person between them.

“Don’t you have any other way to show your concern? I swear you’re driving me crazy.”

He shook his head left and right, as if scolding a small child, and lighted his cigarette in a swift movement. Zoro stiffened. He didn't like it when the cook was acting all calm like that. He felt looked down upon.

“Okay so, what’s the real reason?” Sanji asked. “You don't check on me usually, even when I'm in the infirmary.”

“That's actually it.”

Sanji tilted his head to the side, eyebrow raised to show his disbelief. Smoke rose in a straight line to the roof.

“I didn’t know you’d go crazy!” Zoro yelled. “I swear! I just wanted to check that...”

He stopped suddenly. There was nothing he could say that wouldn’t sound too cheesy. His hands closed in on themselves, lost. However, Sanji didn’t seem to care. He finished Zoro’s sentence with disdain.

“You wanted to know if I’d still be there?”

Sanji taped his cigarette in the ashtray and brought it back to his mouth. His moves were slow and weary. This conversation was painful for both of them.

“And how am I supposed to take this?”

He finally sounded bitter, and Zoro understood why.

“Those bastards aren’t my real family. I’d never leave this crew again. Better get used to me.”

Sanji finished his cigarette and mashed it in the ashtray. Zoro realised he hadn’t said a single word for the last minutes. The blond got up and walked angrily to the sink. He still had dishes to wash. Zoro realised that the unanswered questions were pretty harmful “You think I’d never come back? You think I left on purpose? You think I’d choose _them_ instead of _my nakamas_?” Zoro wasn’t an expert on Sanji’s convictions, but there was something common about their crew, and it was their unbreakable bond together. They cared about each other.

“I’m sorry,” Zoro said suddenly.

Sanji stopped what he was doing. The dishes clattered together.

“I didn’t want to bother you. It’s just... It’s good to have you back. This kitchen was feeling empty.”

Sanji turned to face him. His expression was unreadable. None of them knew how to react. Zoro’s interruption had been unexpected. Sanji’s eye filled with sorrow but before he could speak up, Zoro managed to take the conversation back on solid ground.

“Yes, no one would come here. Because the witch put up an entrance fee.”

“YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT NAMI-SAN LIKE THAT!”

A second later, they were fighting. Outside, obviously, because there was no fighting allowed in Sanji’s sacred place. Zoro kept on smiling during the whole exchange.

It was good to be back to normal.


End file.
